Improvement in artificial arms



mina/m: Y i www %W6mm @5.4M 12p uw AM. PHOTO-LVI'HD` (Z0. NX. (OSEORNES PROCESSJ "UNITED STATESY i PATENT'- #Frioa `Trroiynis URENQOF New YORK, N. Y.

y IMPROVEMENT IN` ARTIFICIAL ARIvIs.

Specification forming part of Leiters Patent No. 48,002, dated May IO, 1865.

.To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, THOMAS UREN, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented certain new and usefulV Improvements in Artificial Arms and Hands; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification, inwhich I Figure l is a rear elevation of the arm as applied to an upper amputation; Fig. 2, a front elevation; and Figs. 3 and 4, longitudinal sections through the center of the arm, and taken at right angles to each other.

The same letters yindicate like parts in all the figures. i

In the accompanying drawings, a represents a hollow artilicial upper arm, which may be made of any suitable material, but which I prefer to make of wood, with the upper endthereof formed to receive the stump of the upper natural arm, and with a wing, b, extending in front of the shoulder. To the wing b astrap, b', is secured, which passes over the shoulder of the amputated arm, across the back to and under the other. arm, up in front, and there buckled or otherwise suitably secured at `c to another strap, d, which is secured at c to the rear upper part of the artificial arm, and extends across the back to and over the shoulder of the other arm, the two straps b and d crossing. each other about the middle of `the back, and being there attached to each other. In this way the upper artificial arm, for anupper amputation, is secured to the body and on the stump of the amputa-ted arm without any strap passing over the breast, and 'so that it can be easily moved by the stump of the amputated arm; and by this I am enabled to avoid the use of a shoulder-plate extending over the shoulder, and which has been admitted to be objectionable. Thelower arm, c', made hollow, like the upper arm, is: connected with the lower end ofthe upper arm by means `of plates f f, connected by hinged joints at g g to constitute the elbow-joint, and as the upper `arm at h (see Fig. 4) must be cut out to allow thelower arm to turn on its elbow-joint, (or, as the equivalent thereof, the lower arm must be cut out in like manner,) I provide the lower part of the upper arm with two curved springfrods,

'i t', which hold out the covering of this part of the articial arm, which covering is usuallymade of thin flexible leather, and when the lower arm is lifted and turned on its elbowjointthese spring-rods yield to permitthe sides of the lower arm to pass between them; and in addition to the foregoing acord, j, is attached at k to thelower part ofthe upper arm, and at Z to the upper part of the lower arm, and about the middle of its length to a piece of wire, m, one end of which wire is secured to the upper arm, and the other looped around one of the springrods t (see Fig. 2) so as to slide thereon; or, as an equivalent, the said cord j may be attached intermediate its ends to any desired number of rods adapted to slide `on both of the spring-rods spring-rods 1J t hold out the covering of the arm when put on, and also the sleeve of the coat, while at the same time theydo notse riously impede the movementsot the lower arm on its elbowjoint. The lower end of the lower arm is connected by a flute-joint with a wrist-piece, Iz., which can be lturned thereon, and the two are connected and held together by two cords, o o, each attached inside the wrist-piece to a cross-rod, p, and each on one side thereof. and these cords pass along inside of the lower arm a short distance, and then pass through holes to the outside, where they are hitched to pins or hooks at q q, cavities being made for that purpose in the outer surface of the arm, so that no part of them or of the pins to which they are hitched shall project beyond the general outer surface of the arm.

By the means last above described the wrist piece is held to the arm and may be readily turned thereon, and there held by the tension of I the two cords o 0, so that the hand can-be set in any desired position. It will be obvious that the cords o o may be hitched or secured to the inside of the lower arm instead of outside. The lower end of the wrist-piece n is formed with a cavity in the form of the segment of a hollow cylinder extending entirely across it to receive the upper end of the hand r, which is of a form nearly the reverse to nearly fit it, so that the hand, when connected, can have a slight motion on the wrist-piece, and the two are connected by two thin plates of metal, s s,

This cordj and l .simply cutting a scarf to receive the end of one of the metal plates s, which connect the hand with the wrist, and passing a fulcrumpin, a, through a hole in both. rlhe thumb o .is also connected with the hand by a rulejoint and fulerum-pin. A cord, 1v, branches into two,and is attached,one branch to the inside of the thumb at x, and the other to the inside of the foreflnger at y. This cord extends up through the wrist piece under a roller, z, inside of the lower arm, thence over another roller, z', near the upper end of the lower arm, t-hence into the upper arm and around a roller, e, mounted in a mortise in thcupper arm not far from the lower end thereof, and thence along on the outside to the back of the wearer, where it branches, one branch being attached tothe strap d at c, and the other attached to a cross-strap, cl, extending diagonally from the strap b to the strap d, the object of the double attachment being to prevent the eoator other garment from being forced outward by the cord when operating the arm. By reason of the foregoing arrangement, when the stump of the amputated arm is moved forward, tension is made on the cord fw, and the first effect is to close the thumb and forcnger, and then to lift the forearm andvhand, which can be thus readily lifted to the head, and by moving the stump back the tension is relieved, the arm and hand descend, andthe thumb and forefinger are liberated.

For the purpose of opening the thumb and foreiinger there. is another cord, c, attached tothe inside of the upper arm, and ywhich passes into and through the lower arm and wrist-piece, and by a friction-roller, j", in the hand, (see Fig. 4,) and beyond this roller the cord branches off, one branch passing to and being attached at g to the outside of the thumb, and the other passing to and being attached at h (see Fig. 2) to the outside ot' the foreiinger. The upper end of the lower arm, a little above the axis of the elbow-joint, is formed with an inward projection, fi', over which the said cord c2 passes.

It will' be seen from the foregoing that when the stump of the arm is moved back, and the tension on the cord w thereby relieved, so that the forearm can descend, by so descending the weight of the arm will then make tension on the cord c2, thereby opening the thumb and foreiinger, and this is aided by the projection t at the upper end of the forearm coming in Contact with the said Y cord, thereby giving a considerable purchase or lever action to open the thumb and finger, so that a very light forearm and hand will have suflicient power to operate the parts.

When for any purpose it becomes desirable to hold the thumb and foreiinger in a closed position, it is effected by a cord, j', which is attached to the cord fw in the hand, and which thence passes through the hand and through a hole to the outside of the wrist-piece, where it is formed with a loop or eye, which is secured to a hitch-pin, la. (See Fig. 2.) By this means the person wearing such an arti.- iicial arm and hand can readily, with his natural hand, hitch this cord, and thus fix' the thumb and forefinger in a closed position.

lf desired, the thumb and foreiinger can be made with all the knuckle-j oints by extending the cords w and et to and beyond the last of the series of knuckles. The other three fingers are formed of one piece, or of several pieces all connected to move together on the fulcrumrod u of the forefinger, which extends through them and through a hole in both the plates s 1 s, before described. These three fingers are formed to represent -the fingers of va natural handwhen in a partially-closed condition, as when carrying or grasping some object, and as they turn on the main knuckle-j oint can be opened to a position represented by full lines, (sce Fig. 3,) and they can be turned to the position represented by dotted lines, and there held by a cord, Z', attached to them on the inside and extending up through ahole to the outside of the wrist-piece, there to be secured to a hitch-pin, m, in the same manner as above described for securing the thumb and foreiinger in a closed position` Vhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. rlhe arrangement of the straps for secur ing the artificial arm to the body and .on the stump of the amputated arm without any strap passing across the chest, in combination with the wing of the upper artificial arm extending in front of the shoulder, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

2. The means herein described for holding out the covering of the open part of the artiiicial arm at the junction of the upperhand lower arm, and in combination` therewith, substantially as andfor the purpose specified. 3. Connecting the turning wrist-piece with the forearm by a turning flute-joint, in combination with the two cords attached to the cross-bar in the wrist-piece andhitched to the forearm, and on opposite sides thereof, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

4. The cord which is attached to the upper arm and passes through the forearm and hand, and is attached to the thumb and foreiinger to open the thumb and finger by simply depressing the hand, so as to bring the forearm in line or nearly in line with the upper arm, in combination with the cord to elevate the forearm and close the thumb and nger by u 0r its equivalent outside to hold the fingers in forward movement of Jche stump of Jche natural a partially-closed position, substantially as dearm, substantially us and for the purpose described.

scribed. l THOMAS UREN.

In Combination with the hinged fingers, Vitllesses: the employment of a cord or cords attached to ANDREW DE LACY,

the lingers, und which een behiehed to apin A NVM. H. BISHOP. 

